From Wonderland to Neverland

As you can see to the right, we have been enduring some polar bear type of weather as of late. Yesterday was easily the most brutal day thus far of the year, the day where you just want to give up and cry uncle! Today, it warmed up slightly, and we were simply itching to finally go and do something. We chose to head back to Discover Mills and simply walk about, as it was still too cold to do anything outside. The polar bear is actually a large figure that stands guard inside the mall. Any shoplifters seen by this bear best start running for their lives, because it's difficult to outrun a twenty-five foot tall polar bear on mall security. By the way, you should see the ginormous segway that bear rides around on.

Anyway, our primary objective in going to Discover Mills was to see if there was something for Madison to wear for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration. But ultimately we decided that last year's outfit still fits somewhat - and furthermore Mommy remembered that there was an outfit we purchased for Madison in China which she's actually never worn before. We'll try that one on tomorrow - it'll be a nice surprise!

Of course, there were other stops along the way - most notably the Disney Store. At the moment, Madison is sleeping in her crib with an Alice doll, a direct result of our stop. Daddy pre-bought "The Princess and the Frog," because he collects the Disney lithographs you get with a pre-purchase. Yes! They've brought back the lithographs!

Mommy got a Cheshire Cat, which was free with the purchase of the Alice - and we also got Madison a little something special for later on, a small Cinderella toy. The manager of the store was charmed by Madison. He found some special pixie dust that he sprinkled on her - she giggled as it fell. And then she floated away.

Just kidding. He also gave her some Valentine's Day cards with Mickey Mouse on them, and some Alice in Wonderland cards as well. We put them all in Mommy's new "Wonderland" tote bag, and escaped the Disney Store before purchasing anything else.

While there at the mall, we stopped and got some more bamboo shoots for our fountain (another reason for our trip down to Discover Mills). There's a Japanese store there that we like to scour, and it was a rather productive trip after all. We found a replacement Yoshi for a coworker, who had his stolen. If you don't know what a Yoshi is, don't worry about it. This one is about a foot tall and will be a great surprise! It's such a rare find, and we were thrilled to spot it there. Can't wait to see his reaction.

When finished at the mall, we traveled up the road a bit to once again return to the Cracker Barrel. Where else? Madison ate and ate and ate while there. She's having a growth spurt - Mommy and Daddy watched her eat all her chicken strips, fries and then some! What an appetite!

Afterwards, we headed home. It was late, but Mommy started up the bath again for Madison, and after the bath it was movie night again. Of course, we popped in a Disney movie. We made the popcorn, snuggled in bed and watched "Return to Neverland." Pretty decent flick, actually. Madison enjoyed watching it, occasionally laughing out loud. There were a few moments of peril that had her concerned, but overall it was a great experience for her. The other night, we watched "Peter Pan," so this concluded our trip to Neverland for now. It's wild - we've gone from Wonderland to Neverland. But soon we'll be back in Wonderland again, as this Sunday Madison will get to meet Alice in person.

Curiouser and curiouser!